Strip Stock Feeding Mechanism

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of metal to a punch press for stamping on a die with the stroke of the feeding mechanism being uniform. A first pair of reciprocating, nonreversing rollers grip and advance the strip stock a precise distance. A second pair of rollers prevent retrogressive movement of the stock advanced by the reciprocating first pair of rollers. The first pair of rollers are reciprocated through a linkage from a rotatable member which, in turn, is driven from the press through a clutch mechanism. The length of the stroke is adjusted by varying the distance from the center of rotation of the rotating member to the location where the feed roll reciprocating linkage is connected to the rotating member.

United States Patent [191 [111 3,863,823 Allred Feb. 4, 1975 [54] STRIPSTOCK FEEDING MECHANISM 3,650,449 3/1972 Mundus 226/142 75 In tor:Arthur L. Allred, Hi h Point, NC. 1 Primary Examiner-Richard A. Schacher[73] Assignee: Allred Metal Stamping Works, High 57 ABSTRACT [22] Flled:Sept 1973 An apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of metal [21]Appl. No.: 393,731 to a punch press for stamping on a die with thestroke of the feeding mechanism being uniform. A first pair ofreciprocating, non-reversing rollers grip and adfi 226/142 i g/ gg vancethe strip stock a precise distance. A second pair i 148 156 of rollersprevent retrogressive movement of the stock 1 le 0 can 0 6 advanced bythe reciprocating first pair of rollers. The first pair of rollers arereciprocated through a linkage 56 Rf d from a rotatable member which, inturn, is driven 1 e erences from the press through a clutch mechanism.The UNITED STATES PATENTS length of the stroke is adjusted by varyingthe distance 2.348.456 5/1944 Dickerman 226/148 from the center ofrotation of the rotating member to 2.397333 /19 6 Borton 226/148 thelocation where the feed roll reciprocating linkage 2,514,261 7/l950Scheffey 2261142 is connected to the rotating member. 254L737 2/1951Bardsley 226/141 X 3.371.834 3/1968 Willits 226/141 X 9 Claims, 12Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 41% 3,863,823

SHEET 1 BF 3 PATENTED 3,863,823

SHEU 3 UF 3 STRIP STOCK FEEDING MECHANISM BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OFTHE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to feedingmechanisms and more particularly to a feeding attachment adapted to bemounted adjacent a press for uniformly feeding continuous strip materialto the press.

Briefly, the feeding assembly includes a first pair of knurled,non-reversing rollers for gripping and advancing the stock strip anaccurate, preselected distance. The first pair of rollers arereciprocated by a linkage and rotating member which receives its drivefrom the press. The linkage is adjustably mounted off-center of therotating member. A second pair of knurled, nonreversing rollers preventretrograde movement of the strip advanced during the back stroke of thereciprocating feed rollers. A clutch, interposed between the rotatingmember and the drive from the press, permits the feed stroke to becorrectly adjusted without turning the press. Each pair of rollers isprovided with means for separating the rollers to facilitate insertionof the strip material therebetween and at least one roller of each pairis eccentrically mounted to adjust for different thicknesses of stripmaterial to be fed.

One of the primary objects of the invention is the provision of a newand improved feeding mechanism for continuous strip material.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a feeding mechanismwhich prevents overfeed and eliminates lost motion while preciselyfeeding a selected, predetermined length of continuous strip material.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a feedingmechanism which can be readily adjusted to vary the feed stroke and toaccommodate strip material of various thicknesses.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent whenconsidered in view of the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thestrip advancing apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the strip feeding apparatusfor directingstrip material from a supply coil to a press;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the strip feeding apparatus andillustrating the drive arrangement from the press to the reciprocatingstrip engaging and advancing rollers;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevational view of the apparatusillustrating the directions of rotation of the pair of knurled rollers;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, perspective view of the drive disk or crank andillustrating an adjustment means for varying the stroke of the pair ofstrip advancing. feed rollers;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary view, partly in section, of theapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the mechanism for locking theadjustment means at a preselected position;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side elevational view, partly in section, of theclutch arrangement for driving the disk from the press;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of one plate of the clutch;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged real elevational view of one of the knurledroller units for intermittently advancing the strip mate rial andillustrating the spring means for feeding the rollers toward each other;and

FIG. 12 illustrates an enlarged, exploded view of one of the knurledrollers and the mounting therefor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawing andparticularly to FIG. I, the apparatus for intermittently feedingmaterial a prescribed distance accurately and uniformly includes a baseframe 20, upstanding end members 22, 24 fixed to the base frame 20adjacent the ends thereof and a pair of spaced guide rods 26, 28 securedto the end members 22, 24.

An intermediate upstanding member 30 is mounted for reciprocabledisplacement intermediate the end members 22, 24 and is guidablysupported upon the rods 26, 28 by means of slide bearings 32. A stockfeeding assembly 34 is positioned upon the horizontal reciprocatingintermediate upstanding member 30. A similar stock feeding assembly 36is located upon the forward upstanding end member 24.

Each of the assemblies 34, 36 is provided with cooperating top andbottom knurled rollers 38 and 40 which are non-reversing and rotate onlyin the direction of the arrows, FIG. 5. As shown most clearly by FIG.11, the rollers 38, 40 are mounted upon a block or bracket 42 supportedupon either the forward, stationary upstanding member 24 or thereciprocable, intermediate upstanding member 30. The bracket 42 includesa portion 43 slidable in the T-shaped groove 44 of member 24 or 30 forpermitting the assemblies 34 and 36 to be selectively positionedlongitudinally of the members 24 and 30 by suitable fasteners 46.

The rollers 38, 40 preferably are of the roller bearing clutch type,rotatable in one direction only, and manufactured by the TorringtonCompany. At least the low ermost roller 40 is provided with an eccentricmounting adjustment to accommodate different thicknesses of the stripmaterial 48. As shown by FIG. 12, the roller 40 is mounted upon aneccentric assembly 50 which, in turn, is supported on a shaft 52 havingan end portion 54 threadably secured to the bracket 42. Upon looseningof the shaft 52 to prevent rotation of the washer 56, the roller can bedisplaced relative to the roller 38 to receive strip material 48 ofvarious thicknesses. The pin 58 secured to washer 56 is received withinan opening 60 in the eccentric assembly 50 to rotate the eccentricassembly and therefore the roller 40 about the shaft 52. Afterselectively positioning the roller 40, the shaft 52 may be tightened toretain the roller and eccentric in position. The roller 38 may also beeccentrically mounted if so desired.

The roller 38 normally is mounted for vertical displacement relative toroller 40 to facilitate lateral insertion of the strip material 48between the rollers. Roller 38 is rotatably mounted upon a shaft 62supported by an inverted U-shaped member 64 which is vertically,slidably displaceable between members 66, 68 of the bracket 42, FIG. 11.Spaced upstanding posts 70 have their lower ends secured to the invertedU-shaped member 64 and their upper ends connected by member 72. Thebracket 42 includes a portion 74 extending between members 66, 68 andhas secured thereto a first cam member 76 and a post 78. A second cammember 80 surrounds the post 78 and is biased downwardly into engagementwith the first cam member 76 by a spring 82. During normal operation,the cam member 80 is recessed within cam member 76 and the roller 38 isbiased downwardly to engage the strip 48 between the rollers 38, 40, asshown by FIG. 4. To separate the rollers 38, 40 for insertion of thestrip 48 therebetween, lever 84, secured to cam member 80, rotatesmember relative to cam member 76 to separate the members andconsequently the rollers 38, 40. The U-shaped member 64 is pulledupwardly by the cam member 80 pushing vertically against the connector72 and posts 70. A nut 86 retains the spring 82 upon the post 78.

The strip of material '48 being unwound from the supply roll 90 isdirected to the stock feeding assembly 34 by means of guide rollers 92which engage the side edges of the strip material 48. Preferably therollers 92 are flanged, as shown by FIG. 3, and mounted upon supportblocks 94 which are adapted to be selectively adjustably mounted byfasteners 96 which cooperate with the generally T-shaped slot 98 of theupstanding end member 22.

The intermediate upstanding member 30 supporting the feeding assembly 34is reciprocated along the guide rods or rails 26, 28 by a rotating disk100 and rods 102 and 104. The rod 102 is guided through an opening 106in the vertical end member 22 upon displacement thereof and has one endrigidly secured to the intermediate upstanding member 30 and theopposite end pivotably attached to rod 104 by coupler assembly 108. Theopposite end of rod 104 has a rounded portion 110 coupled to a pin 112mounted upon block 114. The

disk 100 normally is driven by the press 1 16 and the pin 112, havingthe rod 104 coupled thereto, is off-center with respect the axis ofrotation of the disk 100. Upon rotation of the disk 100, the pin movesin a circle around the axis of rotation of the disk 100 therebydisplacing the rod 104 connected thereto and reciprocating the rod 102in feeding assembly 38. The arrangement of the disk 100 and rods 102 and104 permits displacement of the feed roller assembly 34 at slow speedsadjacent the extreme limits of the length of stroke of the feedingassembly 30 and at rapid intermediate speeds. Slowing of the speed ofthe feeding assembly just before reversal of the direction of thefeeding assembly 30 on the forward stroke prevents overfeed of the stripmaterial 48.

The disk 100 is driven from the press 116 by means of the drive shaft118, universal coupling 119, gear housing 120, drive shaft 122, clutch124, bevel gears 126, 128 and member 130.

The clutch 124 permits setting of the feed without having to stroke thepress. The clutch includes a plate 132 secured to shaft 122 by pin 134.The plate includes a recess 135 defining a cam surface 136, FIGS; 9 and10, which normally receives a spring biased rod 138. The rod 138 ishoused within an opening 141 defined by member 140. The sleeve-likemember surrounds the drive shaft 122 and is rotatable relative thereto.The bevel gear 126 is attached to member 140 for rotation therewith. Thespring 142 normally biases the rod 138 into the base of recess 130 and apin 144 is provided for disengaging rod 138 from the plate 132. The pin144 is displaceable within a slot 146, FIG. 4. Normally the clutch 124couples the drive shaft 122 to the bevel gear 126 for driving the disk100. However,

the clutch 124 may be disengaged by placing a removable handle or crank148 upon the plate 132 and member 140, positioning the slot 149 of thecrank 148 such that the pin 150, fixed to the member 140, is receivedtherein and rotating the crank 148 such that the tapered surface 152engages the spring biased pin 144 and disengages the rod 138 from therecess 135 of plate 132. Such action permits displacement of the beveledgears 126, 128 and disk 100 relative to the press drive shaft 118 andshaft 122. The correct length of feed of the strip material 48 can beobtained in this manner without turning the press 116.

The block 114, which supports pin 112, is dovetailed to the disk 100, asshown by FIG. 7, and is adjustable relative to the disk 100 by means ofan adjusting screw 156. The block 114 is provided with spaced, parallelopenings, one opening threadably receiving the adjusting screw 156 andthe other opening receiving a rotatable'guide rod and lock 158. The endsof the screw 156 and guide rod 158 are supported by members 160, 162attached to the disk 100. i

A third opening 164 is provided in the block 114 and receives a smallrod 166 having a first tapered end 168 which is adapted to abut thedovetailed groove of the disk 100 and a second end 170 which cooperateswith the rod 158.

-In operation, a selected stroke X, FIG. 5, can be obtained by turningthe knob 172 to rotate the screw 156 which displaces the block 114 andpin 1 12 to a selected location at one side of the center C of the disk100.

During such adjustment, one end 170 of pin 166 slides along rod 158while the other end 168 slides along disk 100. An indicator may beprovided upon the block 114 and indicia provided upon the disk 100 tofacilitate positioning of the block 114. Thereafter, the nut 174, whichis fixed for rotation with the rod 158, is turned to rotate the rod 158to a position, such as shown by FIG. 8, wherein the pin 166 is wedgedbetween the rod 158 and the disk 100 thereby locking the block in theselected, adjusted position. The block may be released for subsequentadjustment by rotating the rod 158 such that the flat surface 176, FIG.8, is opposite the end 170 of pin 166 thereby permitting slidableadjustment of the block 114.

While in the illustrated embodiment the rotating member'100 forsupporting the adjustable block 14 and pin 112 is a disk, it is to beunderstood that various rotatable forms may be utilized for supportingthe block 114.

I claim: a

1. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material to a punch presscomprising, a base, reciprocable means supported upon said base, meansupon said reciprocable means for gripping and intermittently advancingsaid strip of material uniformly and accurately, means for preventingretrogressive movement of the strip material advanced by said grippingmeans, rotatable driven means mounted upon said base, drive means,including a clutch, selectively coupling said rotatable means with apress drive, adjustment means supported upon said rotatable means forselectively varying the stroke of said reciprocating means and thelength of strip material fed, and means positively and directly couplingsaid adjustment means to said reciprocable means.

2. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 1, wherein said intermittently gripping and advancing meansincludes a pair of cooperating rollers, each of said rollers beingcapable of rotation only in one direction.

3. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 2, wherein at least one of said rollers is eccentrically mountedand adjustable to accommodate strip material of various thicknessesbetween the pair of rollers.

4. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 2, wherein said means for preventing retrogressive movement of theadvanced strip material comprises a second pair of cooperating rollers,each capable of rotation in one direction only.

5. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 1, wherein said rotatable driven means supports said adjustmentmeans, said adjustment means including a member secured to said couplingmeans for varying the position of said member relative to the center ofrotation of said rotatable driven means.

6. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 5, wherein said rotatable driven means includes a disk.

7. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 5, wherein said adjustment means member is slidably displaceablerelative to said rotatable driven means, said adjustment means furtherincluding locking means for securing said displaceable member in aselected position.

8. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 1, said clutch intermediate the press drive and said rotatabledriven means including manual means for disengaging said clutch forpermitting manual cycling of said reciprocable means without the pressbeing cycled.

9. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 5, wherein said coupling means comprises a first link rigidlysecured to said reciprocable means and a second link coupled to saidadjustment means member on said rotatable driven means and coupled tosaid first link.

1. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material to a punch presscomprising, a base, reciprocable means supported upon said base, meansupon said reciprocable means for gripping and intermittently advancingsaid strip of material uniformly and accurately, means for preventingretrogressive movement of the strip material advanced by said grippingmeans, rotatable driven means mounted upon said base, drive means,including a clutch, selectively coupling said rotatable means with apress drive, adjustment means supported upon said rotatable means forselectively varying the stroke of said reciprocating means and thelength of strip material fed, and means positively and directly couplingsaid adjustment means to said reciprocable means.
 2. Apparatus forfeeding a continuous strip of material as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid intermittently gripping and advancing means includes a pair ofcooperating rollers, each of said rollers being capable of rotation onlyin one direction.
 3. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip ofmaterial as recited in claim 2, wherein at least one of said rollers iseccentrically mounted and adjustable to accommodate strip material ofvarious thicknesses between the pair of rollers.
 4. Apparatus forfeeding a continuous strip of material as recited in claim 2, whereinsaid means for preventing retrogressive movement of the advanced stripmaterial comprises a second pair of cooperating rollers, each capable ofrotation in one direction only.
 5. Apparatus for feeding a continuousstrip of material as recited in claim 1, wherein said rotatable drivenmeans supports said adjustment means, said adjustment means including amember secured to said coupling means for varying the position of saidmember relative to the center of rotation of said rotatable drivenmeans.
 6. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material asrecited in claim 5, wherein said rotatable driven means includes a disk.7. Apparatus for feeding a continuous strip of material as recited inclaim 5, wherein said adjustment means member is slidably displaceablerelative to said rotatable driven means, said adjustment means furtherincluding locking means for securing said displaceable member in aselected position.
 8. Apparatus for feeding a continuous Strip ofmaterial as recited in claim 1, said clutch intermediate the press driveand said rotatable driven means including manual means for disengagingsaid clutch for permitting manual cycling of said reciprocable meanswithout the press being cycled.
 9. Apparatus for feeding a continuousstrip of material as recited in claim 5, wherein said coupling meanscomprises a first link rigidly secured to said reciprocable means and asecond link coupled to said adjustment means member on said rotatabledriven means and coupled to said first link.